Sunday, October 20, 2013

Texture rollers are a fast and fun way to add decorative details to your pottery creations.

To make DIY texture rollers, I started out with small extruded tubes. I let them dry to far leather hard so they wouldn't mis-shape with handling and also they would be perfect for carving. I did dampen the surface with a sponge prior to applying the slip trail decorations.

This batch really wasn't planned out. My carvings and slip trailing were all spontaneous and freehand. I usually get my best results just being spontaneous and free to take risks with design.

When slip trailing a stamp, the slip consistency is very important. It can't be runny or the trail will flatten out and won't make a good impression when in use.

Creating your own original designs for decorating can be very satisfying. Give it a try and have fun.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Last week the Ceramic Community lost a wonderful Artist. Many of you knew Mark from his series of pottery videos on YouTube.

Mark made all types of pottery. Barrel fired terra sigillata was his specialty. He did a lot of experimentation with glaze and different firing techniques. Mark was generous in sharing what he had learned.

Eventhough Mark was in the UK and I in the US, he was a wonderful friend. Always supportive and gave straight forward advice. I will miss him very much. My heart goes out to Mark's wife Michelle and their family.
Here is a link to Mark's Blog, which further links to his YouTube Channel: Brookfield Pottery
This is a song Mark wrote for his wife Michelle

Monday, July 1, 2013

What? Huh? Throwing slabs on the hump sounds really weird. Here's what I have going on. I poured a plaster hump mold and used E-6000 to attach it to an old bat. I know many potters really don't like using plaster for bats or hump molds, but if the plaster is mixed and poured right, it's awesome and safe to use.

I rolled a thicker slab and placed it on the hump mold.

Starting at the center, I used a sponge to compress the clay onto the mold.

Next moved clay from the center and up from the side to form a foot ring. No trimming necessary :)

Sunday, June 2, 2013

My procrastination for glazing has brought me to two huge kiln loads of bisque ware. Over the years I have tried different ways of prepping bisque, but have settled into a routine that works well for me.

Check each piece for imperfections

Rinse in clean water and Use fine sandpaper/silicon carbide to wet-sand any rough or goober spots. Then final rinse and dry.

Apply resist

Sieve glazes and check viscosity

Separate pots into glaze color groups

Have lots of good music and podcasts ready

Pack a PB&J, so not tempted to skip lunch

Turn off the ringer on the phone

A sneak peek of things to come :)

Once in a great while I fumble and a piece will crash onto the concrete floor. That means it's time for me to take a break.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

I took on a customer inspired challenge to make a wheel thrown Compost Crock because it sounded like a great way to stretch my throwing skills. I didn't know much about composting crocks, so I did some research and found out they are not just a garbage can for banana peels. A functional compost crock requires some features which turned out to be hurdles during the making process.

My goal was to make the crock with a fired size of 9-10" tall and 7-8" wide. This would mean I would need to throw 11" tall and 8-9" wide. Easy enough.... umm not really. From the beginning I made a big mistake - I should not have used my soft porcelain blend clay. Not only is porcelain too expensive for this type of piece, it doesn't have enough tooth. It would be best to use a clay with some grog to help make it easier to pull the crock walls taller and thinner.

I don't have much experience throwing larger pieces, so I thought I would start out with a 5lb lump which was too small. I only got about 8" high. Then I moved on to 6lbs, which I got to 9" high. Finally I threw 7.5lbs, which was the ticket for 11" tall and 8.5" wide.

Most of my photos are with the 6lb lump. By the time I got to the 7.5lb lump, I forgot about taking photos.

Centering 6-8lbs lumps wasn't bad. I just started with centering the top portion of the clay and slowly cone centered the entire lump.

When opening I used the heel of my hand.

I left the bottom about 1/3" thick and compressed it well.

When pulling up the walls I kept the pulls as even as possible. I left a good amount of clay at the rim for strength. I kept the top fairly narrow until the final rib shaping. As the walls got taller I slowed the speed of the wheel so I wouldn't lose center.

Final thrown crock

7.5lbs - 11" tall, 8.5" wide

I decided to design this crock to be used with a flanged lid on a straight rim. Many people who use compost crocks use the biodegradable crock liners and it turns out that a lid gallery makes it really difficult to remove the full liners from the crock.

The lid is a whole other can of worms (pun intended).

Apparently the compost sweats inside the crock and condensation can form under the lid, so the lid needs ventilation holes and a sleeve to fit a carbon filter. So that is the next hurdle that I will address.